ZEKİ ÇAĞLAR NAMLI

Zeki Çağlar Namlı was born in 1981 in Trabzon. Having started music when he was 8 years old, Namlı switched to bağlama when he was 14. Although he didn't receive an intensive bağlama education, he was able to play traditional and new techniques very skillfully in an unusual way. In the same year, he started State Turkish Music Conservatory.

In these years he rediscovered and redefined bağlama. This discovery led to a new music style, which ranges from jazz to world music in addition to a new tone color and technique.

According to Namlı, the music was a unified whole. With this style, which was developed in those years, he composed lots of compositions, made arrangements and gave many concerts.

The natural stereo invention for the string instruments,which he had started in 2000 was completed in 2002 and Namlı took the patent of this invention. With this system, which he applied on two instruments, Stereo Bağlama and Stereo Guitar, the instruments can be heard as stereo naturally, played reciprocally, the musical octave expands and a new playing and instrumental music technique has emerged.

His first album, "La Lune," which consists mostly of his own instrumental compositions was released in 2006. While the compositions in these albums started to be played in many international radio, and the natural stereo bağlama, he used in one of his compositions was categorized under the innovative instrument catalogues in various fields. In these years he accompanied the albums and concerts of many artists, he took part in short term joint works. Most of these Works have been included to the completion albums.

One of these is the composition called "Senden Sonra (Since You've Been Gone) in the beginning of the album "Homegrown İstanbul." In 2007, in order to reinforce the relationship between popular music audience and instrumental music, he found a television programme concept and a concert format called "Müziğin Diliyle"(With The Language of Music) and started the demo shootings at the end of 2008. In this format, musicians interpret the images in front of them with improvization music.

In 2010, he released the duet album with Dominique Di Piazza, a remarkable name in the world of bass guitar.
In 2012, the programme "Müziğin Diliyle," (With The Language of Music) the concept of which was developed by him, started to be broadcasted. Namlı was not only a musician, but also the presenter of the programme. He interpreted the issues related to life, music and world-wide popular problems with almost fifty guests from all around the world.
Until now, he has made a considerable effort for improving the sound potential, music and the technique of the instrument he plays and he is still in progress…

NATURAL STEREO INSTRUMENTS

Double boxed sedge and other instruments

Double boxed instrument idea came into existence from my desire to be able to carry out with my art adding a second party. It was not much suitable for the sedge, which has three rows of strand. Because only three sounds were simultaneously being heard and this was not compiling with the ideas on my mind. Increasing the number of strands so as to be able to hear more sound at one time was a before hand tried methods by so many people and different musician on this period and before that.as a result of increasing the number of strands that was a model for me was resembling the acoustics sensation of other string instruments of which I managed in the process of working with 4, 5, 6 strand-instruments.

Instruments have reach to this day being increased in number of their strand,however, it was that the number of strands was the characteristics of the instruments which made me think that this increase in their number could not continue forever.

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With this thought I tried an insrument in which I made resonance gaps in keyboard and at rte bottom of the upper-core so that I should hear 6 sounds in 3 strand rows simultaneously. Through this wrong trial of mine gave me the change to try a strand order system consisting only of goldwire was found strand in the beginning,it is nowadays being used by so many sedge player.
Adding a second boc into the instrument in 2002 (upper-core) helped;
-to hear 6 sounds from 3 strands simultaneously
-to bear a acoustics stereo sensation coming from tight and left boxes
-to create a playing technique by paying attention to two boxes hence the strand lenght of both sides
-to expand octave of the instrument (1-1,5)
To hear different tones with the boxes put into the upper box

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As a result of seeking for an increase in sound that is mentioned in the capacity of the sedge, by applying the double box system to all instruments with an upper core,it shows the same results in the instrument it is applied.

My workings on playing technique of double box system and acoustics sensation in which I believe they will become of immerse importance in the name of sedge and other instruments in future still continue.

ALBUM

It is the first album combining the improvisations of bağlama and the bass guitar in this aspect. In the album composed with original compositions of Namlı, jazz and eastern modes were completely integrated. In the album to which Emre Karabulut contributed with his acoustic guitar, especially the song called ''Face to Face", a duet of Dominique Di Piazza and Namlı, is one of the best samples of free improvization type.

It has the characteristic of being the first record in which new technique and sound brought to bağlama by Zeki Çağlar Namlı is used. In the same breath, an example of stereo instruments which is an invention of Zeki Çağlar Namlı is used in one of the songs of the album.

The songs in the album have different orchestration forms. Apart from Eastern percussion form, there are strings in some of the songs and Eastern wind instruments in the others. The composition of the songs also differs in itself as in orchestration. Perceiving music as a whole, Namlı also reflects this unity regarding the songs included in the album.

In his composition called "Çocuklar" (Children) his own invention Natural Stereo Bağlama is used as it is in its natural form without making use of studio technology and stereo is reflected to the record without delivering the sound or separation process to stereo at all. In this respect, it is the first and the leading in the world.

Namlı's composition called ''Mavi Kelebek" ( Blue Butterfly) is included in this first series of Homegrown Completion Album,

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EVENTS

2012 NOVEMBER DECEMBER | NEW PROJECT

Ethnic instruments try to take part in the melodic theme, harmony and technique of universal and age-enhanced music system apart from traditional music of their lands. Because this process is tried to be solved with the individual endeavors of instrument players, it is not only delayed but it also reaches to listeners of music only after different phases were passed. The endeavor of ethnic instruments to adopt itself to the age and recent developments in the perception of music has also brought different interpretations, colors and senses to the universal sense of music it tries to take place.
Surprising musicians take place in "Zeki Çağlar Namlı Quartet" of which preparations are made by Zeki Çağlar Namlı., a dream for years. It is anticipated that the group considered to bring a new insight to other samples in its form and described as ethnic jazz finish its studies in 2013.

2012 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER | ASIA TOUR

MUSIC WORKSHOP

Ethnic instruments try to take part in the melodic theme, harmony and technique of universal and age-enhanced music system apart from traditional music of their lands. Because this process is tried to be solved with the individual endeavors of instrument instrument players, it is not only delayed but it also reaches to listeners of music only after different phases were passed. The endeavor of ethnic instruments to adopt itself to the age and recent developments in the perception of music has also brought different interpretations, colors and senses to the universal sense of music it tries to take place.

The most important difficulty faced in the reflection of harmony and improvisation technique to ethnic instruments today is that players have a limited information of music gained earlier, a playing technique within the scope of wrong method and theory, and the sense of music. That is why, it is very important to carry out the music training with the truest and scientific data. Whether the instrument training is required to be carried out with traditional methods or universal methods is another question raising issue anyway.

Studying an ethnic instrument with universal methods does not mean that it will lose something from itself and its traditional music, on the contrary it helps. However, we see that Bağlama is completely methodized in a traditional form. If the traditional method applications were sufficient in universities and all professional organizations where bağlama training is provided today, we would experience and hear that bağlama is frequently used in universal music platforms. That the universal methods are not practiced until this time is because of the fact that they are not devised and that there are no opportunities to device these methods owing to the conservative compositions emerging to keep the tradition, as it can be seen in all music history. The true information rules out the wrong one. This means to start again. Although this evolution is very hard and handwringing, it is necessary to pave the way for instrument development and it will certainly be widespread at a later time.

The first important problem encountered upon reviewing Bağlama is that fret names are used instead of the names of frequency. This leads to wrong playing of a musical note other than the real sound, even by a conservatory graduate student of university and also gaining this wrong habit. That is we are seriously on the wrong track at the beginning of instrument training. Besides, not needing a polyphonic, harmonic format other than traditional music composed with a monophonic form and considering it separated from monophonic music format leads to a substantial lack of Standard. Harmonic format is defined as Western music. However; harmony is not the western music, it is the music nature discovered before us. In this sense, instead of a training provided upon a unique decision, a Standard training upon all sounds, all fundamental elements of tonal music that is major-minor and all lines of modes together be provided in the beginning of the training. These two serious mistakes and deficiency just in the beginning of Bağlama training prevent the music technique and its unlimited yields required to be learned afterwards.
Zeki Çağlar Namlı

Namlı shares his experiences with different levels of bağlama groups in the music workshop taking place only in specific periods. Furthermore, those who play different instruments can take part in the groups entitled improvization and harmony.